Triplet bucket ladder-dredge.



M. S. GODIT.

TRIPLET BUCKET LADDER 111111111111.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 15, 1910.

998,495. Patented July 18, 1911.

5 BEBE 1.

WITNESSES: mvavron (War/M 696!!! ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANOGIAFH CO-,Wkllllm. D. C

M. S. GODIT.

TRIPLET BUGKET LADDER DREDGE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 15, 1910. I 998,495. Patented July 18, 1911.

5 SHEETS-$113133.

WITNESSES:

ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA 'LANDGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON. D- C.

M. s. GODIT.

TRIPLET BUCKET LADDER DREDGE.

APPLIOATION FILED APR.15, 1910.

998,495. Patented July 18,1911.

5 SHEET SSHEE T 3.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR COLUMBIA PLANOBIAPH CD WASHINGTON, D- C- ATTORNEYSPatented July 18, 1911.

6 SHEETS-BHBET 4.

WITNESSES." INVENTOR ATTORNEYS MARK S. GODIT, OF WEST WAREHAM,MASSACHUSETTS.

TRIPLET BUCKET LADDEBl-DREDGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April. 15, 1910.

Patented July 18, 1911. Serial No. 555,735.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARK S. GoDrr, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of TV est \Vareham, in the county of Plymouth and State ofMassachusetts, have in.- ventcd a new and Improved Triplet BucketLadder-Dredge, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

This invention relates to a new and improved dredge of theendless-bucket type, in which a plurality of individual bucket laddersare provided.

An object of this invention is to provide a device which will be simplein construction, comparatively inexpensive to manufacture, strong,durable, efficient in its operation, and readily adjustable.

A further object of this invention is to provide a dredge with aplurality of ladders having endless bucket systems thereon, one of whichoperates in advance of the others in such a manner that a more eflicientoperation of the device is obtained.

These and further objects, together with the construction andcombination of parts, will be more fully described hereinafter andparticularly set forth in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views, and in which- Figure 1 is a sideview in elevation; Fig. 2 is a top plan view; Fig. 3 is a fragmentarytransverse vertical section through the dumping hopper; Fig. 4 is anenlarged fragmentary view in elevation, of the dump ing hopper, showingparts thereof in section; Fig.1: 5 is an enlarged side view in elevation of one of the ladders, showing the connection of the endlessbucket chains thereto and the means for adjusting the lad der; Fig. 6 isa vertical section on the line 66 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 isan enlargedfragmentary view in elevation, showing the means for advancing andadjusting the dredge relative to the spud; and Fig. 8 is a top plan viewof the members shown in Fig.7.

Referring more particularly to the separate parts of the device, 1indicates the body of the dredge, which is provided with asuperstructure or frame 2 for supporting various parts of the mechanism.The body 1 is provided with a plurality of outlets 3 extending throughthe bottom. thereof, which I provide suit-able passages, through whichextend a plurality of dredgers 5, 6 and 7, preferably three in number.

It is to be noted that the intermediate dredger 6 is somewhat longerthan the pair of side dredgers 5 and 7 and therefore extendsconsiderably ahead of these side dredgers, so that it works in advancethereof and forms a path, along the sides of which the dredgers 5 and 7may operate. While these dredgers 5 to 7 may be of any suitablecharacter, they preferably consist of endless chains 8 provided atsuitable intervals with buckets 9 and 9, and are supported at theirlower ends, in a manner to be described, in ladders 10. The buckets 9 onthe intermediate foremost dredger 6 difier from the buckets 9, as thisdredger is adapted to run in the opposite direction. In order that thebuckets 9 may automatically dump, each one is provided with a pivotedend 100, which is pivotally connected to the chain8 by a brace 101.

The specific form of the ladders 10 will be seen by reference to Figs. 5and 6. The

'body of each of the ladders 10 consists of a suitable light metallicframework, properly reinforced so as to form a strong structure, and isprovided at its top and bot-tom, on each side thereof, with suitablechannels 11, in which are adapted to run rollers 12 on the endlesschains 8, so that the chains will be properly guided in a frictionlessmanner on the ladders. Each of the ladders 10 is pivotally secured tothe superstructure or frame 2 by-means of suitable shafts 13, so thatthey can be manipulated up and down and thereby bring the buckets intothe desired relation with the ground to be dredged. The upper ends ofthe dredger chains 8 pass over suitablesprockets 14 and 15, located injuxtaposition to a hopper 16.

In order that the tension of the chains 8 may be varied and the slacktherein taken up, each of the ladders 10 is provided with a rack 17,which is secured to the ladder in any well known manner, as by means ofthe shaft 13, and engages a pinion 18 on a shaft 19. The shaft 19 isprovided with a worm wheel 20, which is engaged by a worm 21, the latterbeing operated by a suitable hand crank 22. It will thus be seen that byrotating the hand crank 22, the relative position of the ladder l0 andthe frame 2 can be varied so as to adjust the tightness of the chain 8and vary the slack therein.

For the purpose of swinging the outer ends of the ladders 10 up and downand thereby bringing them out of and into engagement with the ground tobe dredged, there are provided flexible connections 23 for each of theladders, which pass over suitable drums 24, 25 and 26. These drums 24 to26 may be driven in any suitable manner, but preferably by separatemotors 27, 28 and 29. The sprocket wheels 14 and 15 which drive theendless bucket chains 8 are secured in any well known manner to shafts30 and 31, which are provided with sprockets 32 and 33. The latter areconnected in driving relation, by means of chains 84 and 85, to anysuitable source of motive power, such as individual engines, or bysuitable gearing, to a common engine, indicated at 36. l/Vhere theendless bucket chains 8 pass over the sprocket wheels 14, there areprovided rollers 37, on which the buckets 9 are adapted-to rest whiledumping into the.

hopper 16, in close juxtaposition to which the sprocket wheels 14 and 15are arranged. The position of the rollers 37 is such that the buckets 9will dump their load in the bottom of the hopper 16 right in the path ofa stream of water, furnished thereto by means of a plurality of inlets38, connected to a pipe 39, which in turn is supplied by a suit-ablepump 40 from an intake pipe 41, which dips into the water in which thedredge floats. The stream of water disintegrates the material in thehopper, and forces it through an outlet pipe 42, which extends over therear of the dredge to any suitable point. For the purpose of permittingthe relative adjustment of the members of the pipe 42, it is provided atsuitable intervals with universal ball-and-socket joints 45.

In order that any stones which are carried up by the buckets 9 anddeposited in the hopper 16 may be readily gotten rid of, the hopper 16is provided adjacent its bottom with an outlet 46, which is normallyclosed by a door 47 hinged to the hopper 16 in any well known manner.The door 46 is normally locked in its closed position by one or morebolts 48, slidingly secured to the door and engaging locking members 49secured in any well known manner to the hopper 16. The bolts 48 areconnected in any well known manner, as by means of a bar 50 and a link51, to an operating lever 52. hen the bolts 48 are released bymanipulating the operating lever 52, the door 47 can be opened byswinging it from the full-line position indicated in Fig. 3 to thedotted line position, by means of a bell crank lever 53, which isconnected to the door in any well known manner, as by means of a link54.

Coextensive with the outlet 46 which is controlled by the door 47, thereis provided a chute 55, which extends over the side of the dredge 1, sothat a scow may be placed alongside of the dredge and the bouldersaccumulated for any particular purpose.

For the purpose of securing the dredge adjustably to the ground, thereis provided adjacent the rear thereof, a spud, 56, on which are providedone or more superposed collars 57. It will be seen by reference to Figs.7 and S that these collars are provided with a plurality ofanti-friction rollers 58, which engage the spud and permit the collarand thus the dredge to move up and down relative to the spud, to allowfor any usual vertical movement of the dredge.

Secured to the collars 57 in any well known manner, as by means of pins59. there are provided one or more racks 60, which areanti-frict-ionally supported on suitable rollers 61 rotatably supportedon the frame 2 in any well known manner. Both the upper and lower racks60 are engaged by suitable pinions 62 and 63 on shafts 64 and 65, whichare suitably supported in any well known manner on the frame 2. Theupper shaft 64 is driven from the lower shaft 65 by means of one or moresprocket chains 66, which run over sprockets 67 and 68 securedrespectively to the shafts 64 and 65. The shaft 65 is provided at itsouter end with a gear 69, which meshes with a pinion 7 O, which isdriven by any suitable motor, indicated by the steam engine 71. It willthus be seen that by driving the shaft 65, the pinions 62 and 63 will bedriven, thus advancing the dredge relative to the racks 60 and the spud56. Vhen the dredge has been advanced the limit of the racks 60, thespud 56 can he removed from its engagement with the ground by means of asuitable hoisting device, indicated at 72, which is connected by meansof a suitable flexible connection 73 to the spud 56. This flexibleconnection 7 3 is supported in any well known manner by a suitablederrick 74, which cooperates with the hoisting mechanism 72 to removethe spud 56 from the ground. During the shifting of the spud 56 from onelocation to another. the dredger is held in place by an auxiliary spud103. which is removably secured to the body of the dredger in any wellknown manner, as by means of the collars 104, and is manipulated byhoisting mechanism 72 and the derrick 74. i

The operation of the device will be readily understood when taken inconnection with the above description. The dredgers 5. 6 and 7 areadjusted by means of the hoisting drums 24 to 26 to a depth suitable tothe extent of dredging desired. The middle dredger 6, which is inadvance of the side dredgers 5 and 7, and which travels in the oppositedirection, forms a path, along the sides of which the dredgers 5 and 7are adapted to dig. This method of using a plurality of dredgers permitsa larger channel to be dug at one time, and lessens the expense ofoperation inasmuch as the same number of people can take care of threedredgers as would be necessary in the case of one dredger. When thedredging opera tion has been continued any length of time in one'spot,the dredge is advanced bodily by starting the motor 71, which drives thedredge forward relative to the racks and the spud 56. vVhen the limit ofthe racks has been reached, the spud is readily pulled up out of theground and inserted in another place, the dredge being held in themeantime by the auxiliary spud 103. The buckets 9 and 9 carry thematerial excavated up over the sprockets 14, where the buckets 9naturally drop it out of their open ends, and the buckets 9 have theirpivoted ends opened by the relative movement of the braces 101 and thebuckets 9, when passing over the curved sprockets 14. The material isdeposited in the hopper 16, directly in the path of the stream or inthrough the inlet openings 38. The size of these openings is such as topermit a plurality of streams to enter and yet prevent any quantity ofmaterial falling back into the pump 40, should the source of power forthe pump be cut off for any reason. The streams of water let into theopenings 38 force the material through the outlet pipe 4-2, which iscarried on a plurality of pontoons 4:3 and 14: to any required placewhere it is desired to deposit the material. The large boulders whichcannot pass through the outlet pipe 42 can be removed at suitableintervals by opening the door 47 and permitting them to slide down thechute 55 into a scow juxtaposed to the side of the dredge.

While I have shown one embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to belimited to the specific details thereof, but desire to be protected invarious changes, modifications and alterations which may come within thescope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. In an excavator, the combination witha body adaptedto move along in a substantially horizontal direction, of a plurality ofdredgers disposed on said body in the form of a wedge, with one of saiddredgers pro j ecting horizontally in advance of the others of saiddredgers so as to form a path, along the sides of which the otherdredgers may subsequently excavate.

2. In an excavator, the combination witha body adapted to move along ina substan tially horizontal direction, of a plurality of dredgersdisposed on said body in the form of a wedge, with one of said dredgersprojecting horizontally in advance of the others of said dredgers so asto form a path, along the sides of which the other dredgers maysubsequently excavate, and means for ad vancing said body to advancesaid dredgers.

3. In an excavator, the combination witha body adapted to move along ina substantially horizontal direction, of a plurality of dredgersdisposed on said body in the form of a wedge, with one of said dredgersprojecting horizontally in advance of the others of said dredgers so asto form a path, along the sides of which the other dredgers maysubsequently excavate, and individual means for adjusting the positionof each of said dredgers independently of every other dredger.

1. In an excavator, the combinationwitha body, of a plurality ofdredgers located on said body, one of said dredgers being locatedintermediate the others of said dredgers and projecting at its lower endin front of said other dredgers in a horizontal direction, and alsoextending at its upper end substantially below the upper ends of theothers of said dredgers.

5. In an excavator, the combination witha body, of a plurality ofdredgers located on said body, one of said dredgers being locatedintermediate the others of said dredgers and projecting at its lower endin front of said other dredgers in a horizontal direction, and alsoextending at its upper end substantially below the upper ends of theothers of said dredgers, and a common hopper for said dredgers, saiddredgers converging from the front to the rear where they pro ject intosaid common hopper, and whereby a sutficient leeway is permitted for thefront and lower ends of said dredgers.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

MARK S. GODIT.

Witnesses:

Josmrr L. ELDREDGE, EDWARD A. GAMMON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing" the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

